But what about Raina?
by bhut
Summary: The crystals transformed both Skye and Raina, giving Skye certain powers over the earth. Raina's transformation, however, is something else.


**But what about Raina?**

_Disclaimer: none of the characters are mine, but belong to Whedon and Marvel™._

...For the next few minutes, the chamber stood silent, as Skye wordlessly gazed at the remains of Tripp: unlike her, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was not going to rise from the dust once it had settled.

"So! Do you feel any different?" Raina's voice suddenly sounded from behind, startling Skye from behind. "Our transformation is complete...though you look just as you have before..." she trailed away, mistaking Skye's look of shock for something else – more flattering – most likely. "What?"

"You look a bit like that gorgon from the Perseus movie, something-something of titans," Skye said helpfully. "Only you don't have stony gaze, because _I_ have looked you in the eye and am not stone...or maybe because I'm no longer human either..." a tear slid down her cheek.

"What?" Raina ignored that, and promptly began to examine herself. This process, slow at first, became more and more intense as Raina realized that her body plan, her appearance, was no longer particularly human.

Though she could not see it, her head and face remained largely as they were before, not counting the green skin, quill-like hair and cat-like eyes; in fact, Skye remotely thought, Raina's face actually looked more attractive than before, somehow.

The rest of her, though, while athletic and well-built (and Raina had never been a fighter, always a runner), was somehow inhuman – maybe it was because of the clawed hands that finished her now-muscular hands, or the long and thinning tail that she had now instead of legs – who knows?

"What has happened to me?" Raina wailed incredulously, as she bent around in an 8 repeatedly.

"Well, you were so hyped-up about who we are to become, so that you've become something else – or somebody else," Skye tried to console the other woman but was not doing too good a job – she had too much on her own plate, after all. "And so you did. You have become what – or who – you really are. Congratulations!"

Raina glared – and somehow her face made her glare look kind of appealing, despite her new monstrous form – and lashed out. With her tail.

It was a really good thing that she was not up to her full game either, for Skye barely dodged it as it was. "Hey, I'm just trying to help!" she yelled, as she backed into the opposite end of the still-sealed circular chamber that they were in.

As if in tune with her words, the chamber rumbled. "What was that?" Raina halted her advance and looked around, as did Skye.

"I'm not sure," the latter admitted. "Let me try again." She frowned; half-closing her eyes in concentration, reached out to that corner of her brain that twitched the last time, and tried to do so again.

Once more, the earth rumbled beneath them.

"Hah, would you look at that," she said in a sort of a mocking perkiness. "I'm some sort of an earthquake girl! Father would be so proud of me-"

Raina charged.

/

"There's got to be a way into this place, there just got to be," Coulson muttered, as he walked around the round chamber, while keeping one careful eye on Mack. The other agent appeared to have been fully recovered from whatever effect the alien technology had submitted him too, but he was in no more hurry to approach Coulson than Coulson was to approach him.

Still, the chamber did not appear to be opening by itself, and so far Coulson was not having any luck in opening it either. "Mack," he turned to the other agent, preparing to ask him for help at last, when the wall of the chamber burst, and two people came rolling out of it, vanishing quickly in the subterranean gloom, away from the two men.

"Skye?!" Coulson yelled and gave chase, following by Mack.

"Yes?" came the shaky reply from the darkness, followed by Skye herself, as she walked towards Coulson and Mack on unsteady legs – but she perked up when she actually saw them. "AC, you're ok! Mack, you're also back!"

"I never left," Mack was somewhat confused – understandable, given the circumstances. "Of course, my memories are fairly blurry-"

"We'll tell later," Coulson reassured him. "Where's Tripp? And Raina?"

"Tripp is gone," Skye briefly sobbed. "And Raina..." remembering the other woman's new state Skye quickly sobered up and looked around. "She's... gone?"

"Well, she couldn't have gotten far," Coulson assured her.

Skye just sighed and updated him.

End


End file.
